After losing all three of their expected top returnees from 2011, the Vols had to scratch and claw for every point they could get. While it was a trying process, the very young team had begun to mature toward season's end and showed it has several performers who will be the nucleus of J.J. Clark's plans to restore the storied program to its desired stature.

A depleted Vols squad demonstrated improvement from year one to year two of the J.J. Clark era, placing seventh at SEC Indoors and tying for 39th at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Outdoors, Tennessee was eighth at the conference meet and tied for 64th nationally.

All-America rookies Dentarius Locke (60m indoors/200m outdoors) and Justin Hunter (long jump indoors), and SEC indoor/outdoor pole vault champ Joe Berry were the Vols' top performers. Hunter set the men's freshman record indoors, soaring to 26-1 1/2 in the long jump, and Locke was the SEC Outdoor runner-up in the 100m and third in the 200.

Taking over after the retirement of Bill Webb, graduation losses and coaching-change-spurred athlete departures presented J.J. Clark with a limited roster in his first season at the helm of both the women's and men's programs. The result was a difficult year, but UT posted nearly identical NCAA and SEC outdoor results.

Evander Wells was UT's only NCAA Indoor qualifier, but he took four friends with him outdoors and placed fourth in the 200 to garner the ninth All-America accolade of his career. At the SEC level, Wells was fourth in the 200 indoors and joined John Hewitt (400mH) and Matt Maloney (javelin) with fourth-place efforts (100m) outdoors in Knoxville.

In Bill Webb's 14th and final season at the helm of the Volunteers, the UT men managed their 19th SEC top-three finish under his watch, placing third indoors. After finishing 38th at NCAA Indoors, the Big Orange bunch slid to eighth at conference and 48th nationally outdoors.

Joe Berry was a 10-point man indoors and out, winning two SEC pole vault titles. Brenard Wilson (high jump) and Nick Panezich (shot put) were league indoor champions, while Michael Ayers took the heptathlon indoors and was second in the heptathlon outdoors. Brad Holtz (2nd/4th) in the pole vault and Joe Franklin (3rd/2nd) were key as well.

Just like in 2005, the Vols checked in with identical third-place finishes at the SEC Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Scoring in five events, the Tennessee men managed a fifth-place performance at the NCAA Indoor meet and plated points outdoors at the national meet to fashion a tie for 13th place.

Rubin Williams swept NCAA and SEC Indoor hardware in the 200m, was second at SEC Outdoors and fourth nationally in that event. UT dominated the SEC pole vault, with Michael Hogue winning indoors and Joe Berry triumphing outdoors. Jangy Addy took the heptathlon indoors and decathlon outside, finishing second at NCAA Outdoors as well.

Tennessee won its 25th SEC title, claiming the outdoor crown in Tuscaloosa, and turned in its highest NCAA Outdoor finish since 2002, placing fourth and carding the 15th top-five result in program history. UT also added a runner-up SEC Indoor showing and a tie for 10th at the NCAA Indoor Championships, UT's 23rd top-10 effort indoors.

UT got SEC wins from Michael Hogue (indoor/outdoor pole vault), Jangy Addy (heptathlon/decathlon), Rubin Williams (indoor/outdoor 200m), its DMR (indoors) and 4x100m relay (outdoors). Williams went on to finish second in the 200m at NCAA Indoors and Outdoors and was part of UT's third-place 4x100m relay effort.

Tennessee came through with its best SEC Indoor and Outdoor finishes since 2002 and 2003, respectively, and finished in the top 10 at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships for the first time since 2003. The Vols also finished on top of the Team Power Rankings for the 10th time since 1991, solidifying UT's tradition as a complete program.

Aries Merritt turned in a perfect season in the championship meets, winning the SEC 55m and NCAA 60m hurdles events indoors and sweeping the NCAA and SEC 110m hurdles outdoors. Rubin Williams (55m dash) and Michael Hogue (pole vault) won SEC Indoor titles, and Chris Helwick took the vault title at SEC Outdoors to pace the Big Orange in 2006.

Tennessee produced better team results nearly all across the board in 2005, rising to third at both the SEC Indoor and Outdoor Championships and improving from 56th to 16th at the NCAA Indoor meet. Outdoors, the Vols weren't far off the previous year's standard, checking in 19th at the NCAA Championships.

After posting finishes of sixth at SEC Indoors and a tie for 56th at the NCAA Indoor meet, Tennessee rallied outdoors and improved to fourth at the league meet and a tie for 13th nationally. Depth in the javelin and middle distance areas and a surge outdoors by Aries Merritt provided the impetus for that rise.

UT's top finisher at SEC Indoors was runner-up Garland Porter in the weight, while Sean Lambert supplied the squad's top effort at NCAA Indoors by taking seventh in the 60m dash. Outdoors Paul Cross (800m) and Leigh Smith (javelin) carded SEC victories, and those two as well as Marc Sylvester (800m) and Merritt (110m hurdles) earned NCAA points.

Despite losing Justin Gatlin and Leonard Scott from 2002's NCAA and SEC championship squads, the Vols put together another solid season. After placing fourth at the SEC Indoor Championships, they managed a tie for fifth at NCAA Indoors, finished second at SEC Outdoors and were seventh at the NCAA Outdoor meet.

Gary Kikaya, Jabari Greer and Stephen Harris were big scorers for the Big Orange. Kikaya swept NCAA and SEC Indoor crowns in the 400m, Greer won the SEC 55m hurdles and NCAA 60m hurdles indoors and the 110m hurdles at SEC Outdoors, while Harris won NCAA and SEC Outdoor decathlon titles and the SEC Indoor pentathlon as well.

On the heels of claiming victory at the 2001 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Tennessee hoisted the trophy once again at the NCAA Indoor meet, scoring 62.5 points to hold off Alabama (47) for the title. The Vols also collected their second-straight SEC Outdoor title and posted runner-up finishes at both the NCAA Outdoor and SEC Indoor meets.

Justin Gatlin was the king of the sprints on the NCAA and SEC levels, sweeping the 60 and 200m crowns indoors and the 100 and 200 titles outdoors. Sprinter Leonard Scott was a key point producer and relay stalwart along with Gatlin, and Gary Kikaya was another standout on a team of big-time performers, winning the 400m at NCAA and SEC Outdoors.